Essential Oil Shelf

My sister got really into using essential oils. She started making different combinations and quickly assembled quite the collection of little oil bottles. She wanted a custom shelf to display and hold these oils in a utilitarian and aesthetically pleasing fashion. She also wanted it done as cheaply as possible. So this is what I came up with!

If you are relatively new to making things, like me, sometimes it is less intimidating to adapt an old object than create something from scratch. I went to a local thrift store and looked for small wood things that could be used to create this shelf. I found this tray/box thing that I was relatively unfamiliar with, I took out the insides but kept them intact to reuse as reconfigured shelves. I also found this tiny little cabinet with a plexiglass door.

For this project I mainly just used a nail gun. If you are making a custom shelf make sure you have the object you want displayed on hand so that you can base the dimensions off of the actual objects.

I created small wood pieces to act as ledges, holding up my shelves. I made sure I had the right sized nails in my nail gun and then just nailed them right into the frame box. This method allowed me to reconfigure my selves to customize my design.

Play around with how you want to configure your shelf. I wanted the little cabinet inside the framed box to add a playful element to the shelf. I then laid out the shelves around the cabinet. Because I was adapting old pieces I did not have to do any additional finishing. She has this shelf sit on a desk so we did not add any hardware to attach it to a wall but that could easily be added.